John McEnroe is expected to be introduced at a news conference today as the new U.S. Davis Cup captain.

The USTA has scheduled the news conference for 10:45 a.m. to make the announcement that McEnroe will replace embattled Tom Gullikson, who has failed to guide the Americans to the title since 1995.

In an exclusive report in The Post on Aug. 26, USTA President Judy Levering cited McEnroe as a top candidate and said she would spend part of the U.S. Open talking with the players about the captaincy.

On Monday, Andre Agassi, a McEnroe ally who will not play for Gullikson, said he had consulted with Levering last week.

“I certainly have strong opinions on whom I’d like to be the captain,” Agassi said.

The brash McEnroe, one of the most dedicated Davis Cup players in history, told The Post on Aug. 26 that “it makes perfect sense” for him to run the Davis Cup ship, and that he had met with Levering in mid-August. *Todd Martin watched most of the crowd file up the aisles at Arthur Ashe Stadium after his first two “pathetic” sets, as he called them. But the die-hards who stayed past midnight were treated to the match of the week at the U.S. Open.

The normally stoic Martin, the only American left in the draw besides Andre Agassi, broke out emotionally and professionally with a 5-7, 0-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Great Britain’s Greg Rusedski.

Rusedski was serving for the match in the third set, but Martin, a 29-year-old Illinois native, simply “raised his game,” according to Rusedski and broke to stay alive and win the tie breaker. In the fourth set – the momentum turner – Martin served an incredible 88 percent while Rusedski’s percentage fell to 45.

“I feel like I lost the game,” said the 26-year-old Rusdeski, distraught after the loss. “Todd didn’t win it.” *Usually it’s the jet planes that irk the players here at the USTA Tennis Center. Or it’s the oppressive combination of heat and humidity.

Players at the yesterday’s U.S. Open had to overcome another obstacle, in addition to their opponent. A sneaky and unpredictable wind wreaked havoc with tosses, drop shots and just about every other aspect of play.

“Very bad,” Gustavo Kuerten said about the windy conditions after he won his match when Magnus Norman was forced to withdraw because of a lower-back injury. “Everybody could see, we could not play our tennis. Just try to pass the ball over, run and see who is going to miss first. Was not very nice to play.”

Martina Hingis, who swept Anke Huber, 6-2, 6-0, said playing against the wind was like weightlifting. And 14th-seeded Tommy Haas was mentally blown away by the wind and physically dusted by Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

“It’s really tough to play,” said Haas. “I’m usually not a very calm person. I go pretty crazy. You know, easy things can bother me. It’s very tough for me to keep quiet and calm and just play.” *Norman became the seventh male to withdraw from the Open. He said he felt a click in his lower back late in the first set against Kuerten.

Norman joins Sampras and Patrick Rafter, among others, who have pulled out because of injury.

Kuerten won the first set 7-6 and Norman tried playing a couple of points in the second set before retiring.

“I felt like a click in the back when I was going to return the serve at 30-40, the break point,” said Norman. “I felt like just unbelievable amount of pain in the back.”